Since being unveiled as successor to Brendan Rodgers last month, the German has been at pains to play down expectations.

Indeed, he dismissed as “crazy” a suggestion from one journalist that Saturday’s win at Chelsea was a sign his team could challenge for the Premier League title.

Klopp, though, isn’t helping himself in some ways.

After all, in Liverpool’s entire history only Bob Paisley has enjoyed a longer unbeaten run at the start of his tenure in the Anfield hotseat.

Klopp will be aiming for a sixth game unbeaten – and to extend the Reds’ overall record to 12 successive matches – when his team take on Rubin Kazan in Russia in the Europa League on Thursday night.

Here we assess the starts – some encouraging, most false – to life at Liverpool for the club’s managers.

Eight games unbeaten – Bob Paisley (1974)

Now, whether you count this as eight games depends on if you regard the Charity Shield as a competitive match, and if you overlook the fact the retired Bill Shankly actually led the team out against Leeds United at Wembley.

Bob Paisley took over from Bill Shankly after this game, the 1974 FA Cup final

Either way, the Reds won on penalties. They then won at Luton, drew at Wolves, beat Leicester at home, won the return against Wolves (a mere seven days later!), triumphed at Chelsea, thumped Tottenham at Anfield and defeated Brentford in the League Cup before a 2-0 loss at Manchester City.

Five games unbeaten – Jurgen Klopp (2015 ongoing)

So far, so good for the German. Draws at Tottenham and at home to Rubin Kazan and Southampton were followed by an Anfield League Cup win over Bournemouth and Saturday’s memorable triumph at Chelsea.

After Thursday’s return trip to Kazan comes a home game against Crystal Palace before resuming after the international break at... Manchester City.

Three wins in the Europa League – two against Rabotnicki, one over Trabzonspor – and a home draw with Arsenal meant Hodgson’s Reds had momentum going into the trip to Manchester City.

The 3-0 defeat sparked the beginning of the end for Hodgson.

A familiar pose for Roy Hodgson in 2010

The Evans/Houllier experiment may have ended acrimoniously but it started well, with wins at Southampton and Newcastle, a draw with Arsenal and win over Coventry at Anfield before a 2-1 loss at West Ham.

Three games unbeaten – Rafael Benitez (2004)

Benitez won at Grazer in a Champions League qualifier, drew at Tottenham and beat Manchester City at home before Grazer almost sent the Reds tumbling out of Europe with a win at Anfield.

Rafael Benitez keeps it casual with Djibril Cisse, 2004

It all turned out well for Liverpool in the competition that season, though.

Rodgers successfully negotiated a two-legged Europa League qualifier against Gomel of Belarus before coming unstuck in spectacular fashion in his Premier League opener, losing 3-0 at West Bromwich Albion.

He’d have to wait until the end of September for his first top-flight win.

Graeme Souness oversaw two wins at the start of his reign in 1991

Successive 3-0 home wins over Norwich and Crystal Palace kept Liverpool in the title hunt under Souness before a 4-2 defeat at Chelsea – infamous for being the game in which substitute Jimmy Carter was himself substituted – effectively handed Arsenal the championship.

Dalglish, Liverpool’s first and so far only player-manager, opened with a 2-0 home win over Arsenal and a 2-2 draw at Aston Villa before slipping to a 1-0 reverse at Newcastle.

See also: Don Welsh (1951), WE Barclay (1892)

One game unbeaten – Roy Evans (1994)

Evans was promoted to the hotseat after Souness was sent on his way, and oversaw a 2-2 draw at Norwich City on his first outing.

Roy Evans had a short honeymoon period in 1994

The following game, though, saw a Matt Le Tissier-inspired Southampton go four goals up at The Dell after 49 minutes before the Reds eventually slumped 4-2.